Day of Love

Ah, Valentine's Day! A day to express your love! That should be EVERYDAY, not the one day set on the calendar by floral, card and candy companies! We didn't make plans to go out for dinner tonight, as I had no idea how my body would be holding up this late in my treatment plan. Well, Rose stole a last-minute reservation at The Derby in Arcadia (4.5 stars in my book!) for dinner, I've got my lunch ride scheduled today and I was even able to get a haircut! Who cares? ME. I thought the chemo would take care of the hair thing - nope!! Hope your Valentine's Day is a good one, too!

So my chemotherapy is done! Never had a single side effect from the treatment and I thank the good Lord for taking care of me through this. The infusion staff in 1D at City of Hope was so good to me, and despite the 3-4 hours hooked up to these nasty drugs, we always shared an afternoon of laughter. I think the other patients in the infusion center thought I was getting a different med - perhaps some joy juice! Hope we brightened their day and didn't annoy them as they struggle through their chemo. I proudly wore my Stand Up to Cancer shirt that I bought on National Cancer Day on Feb 4. Very stylish! 

My cancer log to date: 18 hours of chemo & 10 hours in the microwave, whoops, I mean radiation. Do you know what a turkey (I'm sure you'll agree that's a good analogy!) looks like after 10 hours in a microwave?? Total time of radiation has been almost 4 hours, so I'm sure my esophagus is fried, but from all outward appearances, not much has changed except a small rash on my chest and back. Not worthy of a complaint. I now have less than an hour of radiation left and I get a 4-6 week vacation until surgery :)

On this love day, let me send some love out to those who have helped me maintain a very aggressive schedule through all of this - my rock, Rose, who won't allow me to sleep through therapy and keeps me on track, my co-workers who push me everyday to stay engaged but have picked up the slack so I'm only working 8 hrs instead of 10, my medical staff who's expertise and quick response is making this feel easy (it's not), my great network of friends who show up to ride, ski and dine with me - I love you all! 

I keep getting comments how inspirational this blog is. Go to the last paragraph and you'll find the true root of this inspiration. When the Doctor asks me if I feel depressed at all, I have to respond with a long laugh - he clearly doesn't know who's behind me - what a ridiculous question! Happy Valentine's Day!